A General History and Collection of Voyages and Travels — Volume 07 eBook

Being hard pressed, they discharged their arquebuses
upon the negroes, who leapt into the water to avoid
the shot. The English then rowed with all their
might to get to sea; but the negroes getting again
into their canoes, pursued and overtook them.
Then drawing near, poured in their darts with accurate
aim. The English kept them off with their pikes
and halberts, and many of the negroes being slain
or wounded by the English arrows and hail-shot from
the arquebuses, they retreated. But when the
English had expended all their arrows, the negroes
came on again, and made many attempts to board the
boat. The negro chief, who was a large tall man,
advanced in his canoe under cover of his target, with
a poisoned dart in his hand, in order to board; and
as he pressed forward, the masters-mate thrust a pike
through his target and throat, which dispatched him.
While the mate was striving to disengage his pike,
which stuck fast in the shield, he was wounded by
a dart; yet drew the dart from his flesh and killed
with it the negro who had wounded him. The enemy
continued the fight closer than ever, and did great
mischief with their darts, which made wide and grievous
wounds. The gunner received two desperate wounds,
and lost a great deal of blood, and the brave masters-mate,
while standing firmly in his post, was struck through
the ribs by a dart, on pulling out which his bowels
followed, and he fell down dead. On perceiving
this, the negroes gave a great shout, and pressed
to enter the boat where the mate had stood, imagining
as so many of the English were wounded they would
now soon yield. But four of those remaining in
the pinnace kept them off with their pikes, while the
other four at the oars made the best of their way
to sea.

At length they got out of the river, and the negroes
retired having expended all their darts. This
was fortunate for the English, as six of the remaining
eight were desperately wounded, one of whom was Robert
Baker, the author of this narrative, and only two remained
who were able to handle the oars, so that they made
very slow progress to the ship, which appears to have
been four leagues from the shore. When they got
on board they were all so faint that none of them
were able to stand. After having their wounds
dressed they refreshed themselves; but as Robert Baker
had more occasion for rest than food he went to bed,
and when he awoke in the morning the ship was under
sail for England.

SECTION X.

Voyage to Guinea in 1563 by Robert Baker[286]

This relation, like the former, is written in verse,
and only contains a description of two adventures
that happened in the voyage, one of which proved extremely
calamitous to those concerned in it, among whom was
the author. From the title or preamble, we learn
that the adventurers in this voyage were Sir William
Gerard, Sir William Chester, Sir Thomas Lodge, Benjamin
Gonson, William Winter, Lionel Ducket, Anthony Hickman,